Shoulder injuries are common injuries suffered by individuals with active lifestyles. For example, many athletes participating in a variety of sports, e.g., football and hockey, suffer a variety of shoulder injuries as a result of violent collisions with other athletes, the ground and/or other objects. Due to recent rule changes in both amateur and profession football leagues regarding what constitutes a legal tackle or hit, football players are leading with their shoulders more often than in the past when applying a tackle or hit on an opponent, resulting in a greater number of shoulder injuries. While surgery may be ultimately performed to repair the damaged joint or muscle, surgery is not ideal or practical during the middle of a season or even during the career of an athlete, where repeated hitting and tackling is likely to reinjure the repaired shoulder. Therefore, an individual may wear a support to temporarily stabilize the shoulder and prevent further injury.
While various shoulder supports exist, these supports have many limitations and undesirable features. For example, many existing supports are rigid and don't allow for sufficient flexibility or movement by the wearer, so the wearer cannot continue to effectively participate in an athletic activity and perform the required movements while maintaining their shoulder in a safe and stabilized position to prevent further injury. Many existing supports unnecessarily or overly restrict movement of a wearer, making it difficult or impossible to continue to participate in an athletic or other activity while wearing the support. Also, many existing supports are not breathable, lacking breathable fabrics or materials, making the wearer hot, and many are bulky or cumbersome, making them uncomfortable to wear during an activity for any extended period of time. Many existing supports are very difficult to put on, often requiring the assistance of another individual and taking significant time to adequately secure the supports to a wearer.
As a result of the above limitations, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for stabilizing the shoulder and/or arm of a subject that minimizes or eliminates such limitations or restrictions.